ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Got a question on ear fatigue.
Do you guys work in intervals? I know 5 minute breaks are common time to time
Are there frequencies which your ears go blind to after working for a few hours or is this a case-by-case scenario?
Do you guys work in intervals? I know 5 minute breaks are common time to time
Are there frequencies which your ears go blind to after working for a few hours or is this a case-by-case scenario?
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
good question - I thought about whether or not there is a healthy cadence. I definitely get to a point, where everything sounds non-exciting (don't know how to describe it better - but both treble and bass is basically incapable of sounding good), and at this point I know I need to take a longer break.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
I'm not an audiologist or anything, but personal experience tells me that I tend to get desensitized to frequencies 5k and up after a while, and often end up adding too much because adding more crispness feels and sounds refreshing. If I take a break for a bit or look at a spectrum analyzer, I realize I've significantly overdone it and dial it back.
I don't really have a habit of taking breaks at specific intervals, but I do often switch back and forth between open-backed headphones and my tower speakers because my speakers aren't monitors (wharfedale valdus 400, don't roast me alive, I just like them and I don't really have room or the acoustic treatment to benefit from a pair of monitors). I tend to write on the speakers and mix on the headphones.
- Lost to the Void
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Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
I don't really work in intervals as such. When I'm in the zone I'm in the zone.
But I have calibrated my monitors and listen at a consistent spl at a specific RMS to peak, so that makes decisions very easy.
I also periodically zero the volume, wait for for a minute and then slowly bring the level back up, checking for consistency as I bring the level up. Occasionally I will work at low volume for a little while as well, just to give the ears contrast.
I work in headphones a lot, so turning things down periodically helps with ear fatigue.
Generally I don't get an issue with frequency but with dynamics. Once ear fatigue sets in I find it hard to judge transients. Especially in the mid range.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
The dynamics thing is definitely something I experience too.Lost to the Void wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:50 amI don't really work in intervals as such. When I'm in the zone I'm in the zone.
But I have calibrated my monitors and listen at a consistent spl at a specific RMS to peak, so that makes decisions very easy.
I also periodically zero the volume, wait for for a minute and then slowly bring the level back up, checking for consistency as I bring the level up. Occasionally I will work at low volume for a little while as well, just to give the ears contrast.
I work in headphones a lot, so turning things down periodically helps with ear fatigue.
Generally I don't get an issue with frequency but with dynamics. Once ear fatigue sets in I find it hard to judge transients. Especially in the mid range.
- Lost to the Void
- subsekt
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Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Snares man. Nightmare.Amøbe wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:55 amThe dynamics thing is definitely something I experience too.Lost to the Void wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:50 amI don't really work in intervals as such. When I'm in the zone I'm in the zone.
But I have calibrated my monitors and listen at a consistent spl at a specific RMS to peak, so that makes decisions very easy.
I also periodically zero the volume, wait for for a minute and then slowly bring the level back up, checking for consistency as I bring the level up. Occasionally I will work at low volume for a little while as well, just to give the ears contrast.
I work in headphones a lot, so turning things down periodically helps with ear fatigue.
Generally I don't get an issue with frequency but with dynamics. Once ear fatigue sets in I find it hard to judge transients. Especially in the mid range.
I'm doing drum and bass a lot and after an all night session when I check the mix on the monitors the snares end up so fucking loud as ear fatigue has obviously blurred my judgement.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Erm... so this is probably as much a question for people who have tried playing their tracks on sound systems. For some reason I'm getting extracted towards a more sombre type of techno again, and one of the things I like, is when the kick is not too clicky (I like presence, though). So my question is more or less - how much can you roll of the top end of a kick, before it starts to lose its "kick-ness" and becomes more of a pulse.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Dear Rasmus, what I did to figure this out, was to take a whole bunch of kicks and then put them in a drum rack. Afterwards you shift between all the kick drums with a spectrum device on top of it.Amøbe wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 1:19 pmErm... so this is probably as much a question for people who have tried playing their tracks on sound systems. For some reason I'm getting extracted towards a more sombre type of techno again, and one of the things I like, is when the kick is not too clicky (I like presence, though). So my question is more or less - how much can you roll of the top end of a kick, before it starts to lose its "kick-ness" and becomes more of a pulse.
What I came up with was that the sort of slightly filtered kicks, that still had a knock, would have some activity between 2-4 kHz, and then they wouldn't really have anything beyond 8-10 kHz. Some of the more drastically filtered kicks (that they really like in dub techno) would often be completely out of activity beyond 5 kHz, whereas a very layered kick with maybe a shaker, noise or hat sample on top, would have nothing rolled off.
Hope this helps, and you're welcome to ask if you have further questions!
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Thanks man! Much appreciated <3Amøbe wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 3:36 pmDear Rasmus, what I did to figure this out, was to take a whole bunch of kicks and then put them in a drum rack. Afterwards you shift between all the kick drums with a spectrum device on top of it.Amøbe wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 1:19 pmErm... so this is probably as much a question for people who have tried playing their tracks on sound systems. For some reason I'm getting extracted towards a more sombre type of techno again, and one of the things I like, is when the kick is not too clicky (I like presence, though). So my question is more or less - how much can you roll of the top end of a kick, before it starts to lose its "kick-ness" and becomes more of a pulse.
What I came up with was that the sort of slightly filtered kicks, that still had a knock, would have some activity between 2-4 kHz, and then they wouldn't really have anything beyond 8-10 kHz. Some of the more drastically filtered kicks (that they really like in dub techno) would often be completely out of activity beyond 5 kHz, whereas a very layered kick with maybe a shaker, noise or hat sample on top, would have nothing rolled off.
Hope this helps, and you're welcome to ask if you have further questions!
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Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Some kind of a rip in the space-time continuum???
- Lost to the Void
- subsekt
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Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
As far as you want. I push this idea right to the extreme with one of my pseudonym projects. The kicks are all low end and distant, with smeared out low transients and with really rolled down top end.Amøbe wrote: ↑Mon Nov 28, 2022 1:19 pmErm... so this is probably as much a question for people who have tried playing their tracks on sound systems. For some reason I'm getting extracted towards a more sombre type of techno again, and one of the things I like, is when the kick is not too clicky (I like presence, though). So my question is more or less - how much can you roll of the top end of a kick, before it starts to lose its "kick-ness" and becomes more of a pulse.
If it works for the tune, do it.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Maybe... I'm glad I could answer my question for me, thank me very much. No, thank me. My pleasure. See me later.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Lol
Lost to the Void wrote: I am unlikely to teach small children how to break someone violently (...). So I think it will be fine.
[wesellboxes] wrote: Anyone that believes in conspiracy theories has never worked in project management.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Hehe, I think it was the same evening that we got our kitchen tabletop installed and I could open a bottle of wine for the first time in a long long time
And thanks Steve! That's good to hear - it's one of those things I find hard to figure out, since I'm not producing on an actual sound system
And thanks Steve! That's good to hear - it's one of those things I find hard to figure out, since I'm not producing on an actual sound system
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
^ Fixed thatAmøbe wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:04 pmHehe, I think it was the same evening that we got our kitchen tabletop installed and I could open many many bottles of wine for the first time in a long long time
And thanks Steve! That's good to hear - it's one of those things I find hard to figure out, since I'm not producing on an actual sound system
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
subvers^v wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 9:20 pm^ Fixed thatAmøbe wrote: ↑Fri Dec 02, 2022 3:04 pmHehe, I think it was the same evening that we got our kitchen tabletop installed and I could open many many bottles of wine for the first time in a long long time
And thanks Steve! That's good to hear - it's one of those things I find hard to figure out, since I'm not producing on an actual sound system
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Do I need to use a spectrum analyser?
Creativity is not a technique, it is a way of life.
Re: ASK US ANYTHING [NO SUBJECT IS STUPID / ALL QUESTIONS WELCOMED]
Almost all new plug ins are 64 bit and for compatability reasons (finishing a tonne of old projects) I stick to 32 bit. Is this affecting my sound? Is it only noticable on certain high end emulation plug ins?
Creativity is not a technique, it is a way of life.